Advice on adding a 2nd battery or solar panel or both?

[Steve McGraw]

I'm a new Rockwood Mini Lite 2109s owner. Also new to camping.

Can anyone advise on what choice makes most sense for folks who mostly expect to use full or near full hook ups and way less boondocking as it relates to the need for batteries and solar.

Would it be the best to purchase an additional solar panel for the times when we dry camp or purchase an additional battery or both??? Seems like a portable solar panel might be good to keep the battery charged when not being used and under cover.......

Trailer has a 200 watt solar capacity with 1 100 watt roof mounted panel and came with 1 deep cycle acid battery.

Thank you for your advice!

 

[TitanMike]

Changing to one lifepo4 battery front a single lead acid battery will effectively double your usable battery capacity. Two will quadruple it.

100w of rooftop solar and perhaps 200w of portable solar (like 200w portable Renogy units that have their own controller) will most likely handle your occasional boondocking excursions.

Unless you plan on camping in weather that produces heavy overcast or camp under the trees, these suggestions will work just fine. Especially considering how portable panels can be placed in sun and properly oriented for max performance.

Rather than going over the top by covering the roof with panels and installing a half dozen lifepo4 batteries just start slow like above and see how it goes.

To paraphrase an Insurance commercial (the one with the Emu) " only pay for buy what you need".

 

[Steve McGraw]

Thanks MIKE

Thank you much for your advice, I really wondered if I would need to do anything. I will make it through a few more months of camping and see if I need to do anything.

Thank you again!

 

[TitanMike]

Thank you much for your advice, I really wondered if I would need to do anything. I will make it through a few more months of camping and see if I need to do anything.

Thank you again!

You're welcome. Best way is to just take a couple trips or even "driveway camp" with the cord pulled to see what your real electrical needs are. THEN devode how big a budget you'll need to draw up to meet those needs.

 

[happy camper 17]

I also have a 2109S (2022) that came with 2-65ah lead acid batteries and 195 solar. I opted for the gas/AC fridge rather than the 12 volt. I converted to lithium this year with a life po4 230 amp hour battery which quadrupled my usable power and had to upgrade my converter to a lithium compatible.
To answer your question, if you are going to be hooked up to shore power most of the time, your setup should be just fine with keeping your battery charged. If your fridge is a 12 volt, it may be a different story. I would consider upgrading to lithium at some point as they have so much more capacity than a lead acid.
Adding solar can be quite expensive but does give you "free power". I have a generator that I can use to top off the battery for those extended boondocking trips and then it doesn't matter if I camp in the shade or not.
Time will tell as to what your needs are as far as upgrading.
Are you sure your solar is only 100 amp? If your fridge is a 12 volt, I would bet it is a 195+.

 

[Aussieguy]

I camp both boondocking and paid powered sites... especially if I want air conditioning

it is great to be able to just stop some place for the night/weekend and not worry about fridge etc

I spent $1000.00 on 200ah battery and 700w of solar
and have the ability to camp indefinitely where ever i choose

enjoy the freedom of NOT having to drive to a strict schedule ... last trip to Ohio we didn't book any spots for the night ... just stopped at cracker barrels and rest areas

then mooch docked off brother-in-place (farm)
connected trailer to 120v outlet in his garage
got enough power to run coffee maker and hot water etc
weather was nice and a/c wasn't required


we got 12v fridge and all the regular stuff like slides water pump
NO inverter... but could put a small one in if we ever decided we could use it?

 

[bikendan]

I'm a new Rockwood Mini Lite 2109s owner. Also new to camping.

Can anyone advise on what choice makes most sense for folks who mostly expect to use full or near full hook ups and way less boondocking as it relates to the need for batteries and solar.

Would it be the best to purchase an additional solar panel for the times when we dry camp or purchase an additional battery or both??? Seems like a portable solar panel might be good to keep the battery charged when not being used and under cover.......

Trailer has a 200 watt solar capacity with 1 100 watt roof mounted panel and came with 1 deep cycle acid battery.

Thank you for your advice!

Moved thread from the General Community Discussion section to the Electrical, Charging Systems and Solar sub-forum since the OP's questions are specific to that particular sub-forum and are not general community questions.

 

[tomkatb]

Plan ahead.

With a compressor fridge your use of batteries is likely over 100 ah per day.

Batteries need to be the same age, type, size and generation. So adding on can be tough. Issues occur.

Get a big battery. 200 ah or more. That assures you of near two nights boondocking with minimal solar. Solar is iffy in the Midwest.

We have no solar. Just 412 ah of battery and a gas fridge. We can boondock. 3-4 days. Then we can run the 2200 watt generator which allows us to run one air conditioner. Or we pay for a site to recharge and empty tanks.

The more we rv the more we boondock! There are free dump sites out there too.

Harvest Hosts is great for traveling. We have slept in many interesting places. The museum at Roswell. The volcano. All of Moab. Restaurants, bars, distilleries, wineries, farms, gas stations, all kinds of places. We carry a guard dog. Sleep,safe.

 

[Aussieguy]

Batteries need to be the same age, type, size and generation. So adding on can be tough. Issues occur.

with lifepo4 and their internal BMS same age etc is not real important

most problems with age etc is for when you connect batteries in series
to increase the voltage

Even the old lead acid peoples with big battery banks
would change out a single battery ... not the whole expensive bank

 

[Bob K4TAX]

I view if one increases battery capacity, one should be sure they have the charging ability for the increased battery capacity. If not, then added charging capacity, either solar or generator, is suggested.

Otherwise one has only partly charged batteries which is likely no better than one battery. One needs to balance supply vs. demands in terms of charging and discharging.

Bob

 

[TravelSolo]

You're welcome. Best way is to just take a couple trips or even "driveway camp" with the cord pulled to see what your real electrical needs are. THEN devode how big a budget you'll need to draw up to meet those needs.

To the OP, notice he used the word "needs". In the boondocking game that is absolutely different than "wants". RVs used to survive on a single FLA battery, it's only our modern "wants" that have driven up the so called "needs".

 

[TitanMike]

Replying to Bob K4 TAX

Totally agree.
Ideally charging ability for lifepo4 batteries would take advantage of their ability to be charged at a 0.5C rate. 50 amps for a 100ah battery is easy with most converter/chargers but for my 540ah battery bank, not so much.
That's going to take some time.

Also be sure to take into consideration where and when you'll be camping when relying on batteries. You can have a lot if solar capacity on the roof to charge your large(er) battery bank but find it not producing both at higher latitudes from late fall to early spring. At my current location the sun only reaches ~19 degrees above the horizon and that's only when it's not obscured by dense clouds. Only clear sky seems to occur at night accompanied by freezing temps which frost the rooftop solar. This delays start of charging power by an average of 2 hours and that's IF the sun manages to peek through the cloud cover.

Even during great solar power days one should take into consideration the actual length of a "solar power" day. Will your solar charge controller be able to fully charge you battery bank in the average ~8 hours of available solar energy? Be sure to also take into the inherent inefficiency of flat mounted rooftop panels.

As to geography, in short what works in FL, AZ, etc., doesn't work everywhere else. A good; quiet, inverter generator may prove to be priceless if one spends a lot of time off-grid.

 

[TitanMike]

To the OP, notice he used the word "needs". In the boondocking game that is absolutely different than "wants". RVs used to survive on a single FLA battery, it's only our modern "wants" that have driven up the so called "needs".

Back in the early days of RV'ing it was more like tent camping only warmer; drier, and a more comfy bed.

Battery ran one or two lights and a water pump.

Today it's a half dozen or more lights, a refrigerator, furnace, TV, Satellite, charging phones, and on, and so forth.

Not sure why some refer to RV's as "Campers" as the true art of camping is far from what most do with their RV's.

 

[Aussieguy]

Back in the early days of RV'ing it was more like tent camping only warmer; drier, and a more comfy bed.

Battery ran one or two lights and a water pump.

Today it's a half dozen or more lights, a refrigerator, furnace, TV, Satellite, charging phones, and on, and so forth.

Not sure why some refer to RV's as "Campers" as the true art of camping is far from what most do with their RV's.

Just changed my avatar.....
just found a pic of trailer (almost the same ) when we first had a caravan.... check out the self emptying gray water tank

 

[miataroadster]

Back in the early days of RV'ing it was more like tent camping only warmer; drier, and a more comfy bed.

Battery ran one or two lights and a water pump.

Today it's a half dozen or more lights, a refrigerator, furnace, TV, Satellite, charging phones, and on, and so forth.

Not sure why some refer to RV's as "Campers" as the true art of camping is far from what most do with their RV's.

Nowadays, we are "roughing it" when without full hook ups. Spoiled! Oh yeah, and the spending never stops..ah gotta have better batteries, more panels, prettier LED lights, etc. It's my DW's fault. She let me in charge of the check book. .

 

[Aussieguy]

but you can store more beer in the fridge nowdays
the 12v keeps it real good and proper

Inside dunny and shower... killed camping forever
lots of interesting conversations use to go on between shower stalls.

 

[TitanMike]

Nowadays, we are "roughing it" when without full hook ups. Spoiled! Oh yeah, and the spending never stops..ah gotta have better batteries, more panels, prettier LED lights, etc. It's my DW's fault. She let me in charge of the check book. .

About the "prettier LED lights", some feel they have to leave them on all night. Apparently they see modern camping just like "clubbing".

 

[RobbieH]

One note since you have a 2109S - you probably have the plastic Dometic 300 toilet. If you start smelling urine in the bathroom no matter how hard you clean, it's due to that toilet failing. The Dometic 320 porcelain toilet will fit perfectly in a 2109S, I've done that conversion in a friend's TT.